


That's the easy part

by redex_writes



Series: AWO Fictober 2020 [2]
Category: A Way Out (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Linda and Leo have an open marriage, M/M, Vincent and Linda are friends, we stan Linda Caruso in this household
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:55:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26768371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redex_writes/pseuds/redex_writes
Summary: Fictober prompt 2When Leo needs to leave unexpectedly, Vincent ends up hanging out with Linda.
Relationships: Leo Caruso/Vincent Moretti, Vincent Moretti & Linda Caruso
Series: AWO Fictober 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941064
Kudos: 17
Collections: A Way Out Fictober 2020





	That's the easy part

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in the same universe as my fic A Way In, but you don't need to read it to read this! All you need to know about it is that it's in a modern setting, Leo and Linda are in an open marriage, and Leo is dating Vincent.

Vincent hadn’t been to the trailer park enough times to really know his way around, but he at least knew where Leo lived. He hiked the heavy picnic bag he was carrying further up his shoulder as he made his way up to the front door, and was just preparing to knock when the door swung open, nearly smacking him in the nose.

“Shit--Vincent? What are you doing here?”

Leo looked slightly frazzled, a coat slung over his shoulder and phone in hand. His eyes fell on the bag slung over Vincent’s shoulder and widened.

“Oh shit--I completely lost track of time.”

“It’s okay,” Vincent assured him. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah everything’s fine.” Leo ran a hand through his hair, the stressed look on his face betraying that no, everything was not fine. “Some stuff came up at work; I’m supposed to be off today, but I guess there’s been some sort of issue with support beams or something? I don’t know what happened, but the foreman’s pretty pissed.”

“Oh,” Vincent said, trying not to let the disappointment show on his face. They’d been supposed to spend the weekend together, and the weather had been nice enough that Vincent had decided to pack them a picnic, cheesy as it may have been.

Leo caught his tone, of course, and gave him a reassuring smile.

“Hey, our plans are still on. I’ve just gotta go down and help sort this out; it shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

Vincent nodded, and Leo’s eyes softened.

“I’ll see you soon.” He gave Vincent a quick goodbye kiss before hurrying off, his phone already ringing as he got into his car and drove off, leaving Vincent standing at the front door.

In the ensuing stillness, Vincent suddenly realized that Leo hadn’t told him where to wait. He looked around, feeling very out of his element, and was debating whether or not to just let himself into the trailer when a loud _clang_ from the back made him jump. After a brief moment of hesitation, he walked around back to check.

The space behind the trailer that served as a back yard was empty, save for a partially disassembled motorbike propped up on a stand. He recognized Linda laying under it, fiddling with something under the engine and cursing under her breath.

“Linda?”

Linda jumped a little, and Vincent winced apologetically. She crawled out from underneath the bike and stood, pulling an oil-stained rag from her back pocket and wiping her face with it before shooting him a smile.

“Hey. Did Leo leave already?”

“Yeah. He seemed in a hurry.”

She nodded, tossing the rag onto the seat of the bike. “Yeah, sounds about right. Ray can be an asshole when he’s pissed. Which is like, 90% of the time, but still.”

She looked down at his bag and frowned. “I’m sorry if it cut into your guys’ plans.”

Vincent waved her off. “Nah, it’s alright. I just made us some dinner to take down to the park…” He trailed off with a grimace. “God, it sounds even dumber when I say it out loud.”

Linda laughed. “Don’t worry, he’ll love it. Don’t tell him I told you, but Leo’s kind of a softie.”

“Oh, definitely.”

“Anyways,” she continued, gesturing to the bag, “you can put your stuff inside while you wait. Anything that needs to go in the fridge?”

The inside of the trailer was warm from the sun, and Linda grabbed them both a soda before taking hers and heading outside. Vincent loitered in the kitchen for a second before following, still feeling a little misplaced.

He took a seat on the rickety wooden stairs as he watched Linda get back to work. Drink in one hand, she tried to gather up some of the tools scattered on the ground, only to drop them again with a frustrated noise.

“Damn it!”

“Can I help?”

She looked over, an eyebrow raised. “You know how to fix bikes?”

“Well, I don’t know much about fixing them,” he said sheepishly. “But I’m okay with my hands, and I know a decent amount about the builds.”

She squinted at him for a moment before nodding, an easy smile on her face. “Alright. But just so you know, if you mess her up, I will kick your ass so hard--”

He raised his hands in surrender. “Point taken.”

Quickly downing the rest of his soda, he set the bottle down and joined her at the bike.

“Okay, so since you’re relatively new to this, I’ll fill you in on what’s going on.” Linda knelt beside the bike, pointing out some spots to him on the engine.

“The vacuum on this thing is in a bit of a tricky spot. There are some clamp screws in there that are rusted or warped or something, and it’s making it a nightmare to get the thing off so I can actually work on it. Basically, what needs to happen here is…”

Vincent couldn’t do much more than stare blankly at her as she rattled off parts with names that he’d never heard and tools that he didn’t even know existed. When she looked up at him again, he realized with mild panic that he hadn’t processed a thing that she’d been saying.

“Sounds tough,” he said weakly, trying to sound like he’d absorbed even a little information. “So, what am I going to be doing?”

Linda raised an eyebrow.

“That _is_ what you’ll be doing. That’s the easy part.”

Vincent’s heart sank. “Oh.”

Her mouth twitched as though she was trying not to laugh, and Vincent appreciated the effort.

“Or, you can just hold some things for me and hand them to me when I say.”

He nodded quickly. “Yeah, that’ll work.”

Linda laughed, shaking her head.

After giving him a rundown on the tools she’d be needing, she scooted back under the bike and got to work. Vincent didn’t feel particularly helpful just sitting and handing her different kinds of wrenches and bolts and occasionally her soda, but they soon got to talking, and he found that he quite enjoyed her company. Once she’d managed to remove the part that had been causing her trouble, they took a break to sit on the steps and chat as she finished off her drink.

“I mean, he was a nightmare back then,” Linda was saying, gesturing with her drink. “Especially to the nuns at the orphanage. Not one of us liked them, but I almost feel sorry for them for all the trouble Leo got into.”

“I can imagine,” he said. She pointed at him.

“See, exactly! You know how chaotic he can be _now_ \--imagine him as a teenager.”

She drained the last of her soda, staring across the park with a thoughtful look. “He wasn’t a bad kid, though, especially not with the others. I mean, looking at him--especially how he was back then--some people might not see it, but Leo’s great with kids. He’s so good with Alex, and he was the same with the younger kids at the orphanage. He’s got endless patience when it comes to them; the little ones would wake him up if they had nightmares, and he’d just sit with them until they’d fall back asleep. Tell them stories off the top of his head, stuff about jewel thieves and military pilots and fugitives on the run.”

She looked over at him, and Vincent was surprised by the softness in her smile.

“I see it in you, you know. I see how much you care about him.”

He looked away, flushing slightly. Linda nudged him with her shoulder.

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Leo’s a great guy. And I know that he cares about you, too.”

Vincent rubbed the back of his neck, unable to meet her gaze. “You think?”

“I do. Trust me, Vince, I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

Vincent swallowed, chest tightening.

“I hope you’re right.”

Linda snorted, standing and holding out a hand to help him to his feet.

“Of course I’m right. I’ve been married to him for like, a million years. I know love when I see it.”

Before Vincent could reply, a car door slamming nearby caught both of their attention. Leo appeared around the side of the house, stopping when he saw them.

“The hell happened to you two?”

Vincent looked down. His hands were smudged with grease, and Linda was twice as dirty as she’d been when he’d arrived. She gestured to him, grinning.

“Your boyfriend was helping me with the bike. She’s really starting to come together now.”

“Sweet.” Leo looked at Vincent, who was _most definitely not flustered in the slightest._ “Ready to go?”

“One second.” He quickly ran back into the trailer, retrieving the bag and stuffing the few things he’d stored in the fridge inside before heading back out.

Leo waved to Linda as they left, taking Vincent’s hand and swinging it between them.

They walked in comfortable silence for a while before Leo spoke up.

“I’m really glad you guys get along.”

Vincent looked over at him. He was looking ahead, but there was a small smile on his face.

“Why wouldn’t we? She’s a nice person, and interesting conversation.”

Leo shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, me and Linda’s relationship has been open since we started dating, and we’ve never had any issues with jealousy or anything--from us, anyways. But for the most part, our only serious relationships have been...well, the two of us. Everything else has either been a fling or short term. There’s never been someone that feels…”

He trailed off, which was probably for the best as Vincent felt like if Leo had continued that train of thought, he wouldn’t be able to say anything coherent in return. He cleared his throat.

“We can...talk about that later.”

Leo looked at him with a grateful smile, then gestured to the bag. “What is that, anyways? I’ve been dying of curiosity since I saw it.”

Vincent hesitated for a moment, but the genuine interest in Leo’s eyes cancelled out any embarrassment he’d had about it before. Fuck it.

“We’re going on a picnic.”

Leo’s eyes lit up, and Vincent felt a sudden, dizzying urge to kiss him right there.

“Really? Where?”

“There’s a nice park a short ways away from my apartment. I figured we could find a quiet spot there, have some food, that sort of thing. It’s usually pretty empty away from the play areas, so if we find someplace with a shady spot where we won’t be in the way, we should have a good area to ourselves.”

Leo shook his head, a fondness in his eyes that made Vincent’s chest swell.

“Sounds like you worked hard planning it out.”

Vincent shrugged half-heartedly, waiting for Leo to press the button at the crosswalk. 

“So,” Leo said, looking over at him with a grin. “What’ve you got planned for when we get back to your place?”

Vincent did kiss him then, giving his lips a quick peck before pulling away with a smirk.

“That’s the easy part.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I love these guys, and I have so much fun exploring Linda and Vincent's friendship in this scenario. Also, I've noticed that I write a lot from Vincent's perspective, so I think I'm going to try to write more from Leo's POV during this fictober to switch things up. Have a good day!


End file.
